This self-proclaimed entrepreneur is not a real entrepreneur, but an ordinary entrepreneur, that is, Yue Lihua, the founder of Sheng Xing Supermarket with more than 30 direct stores and more than 400 franchise stores.
[Entrepreneurial Trajectory] Be Big-Be Small-Be Big-Be Small
"What I want to do well is actually to simply copy and manufacture the same type of glass."
Yue Lihua's greatest interest since childhood was doing business. First, I helped my parents fight for a while. He was very shrewd and soon became independent. /kloc-When he was 0/7 years old, he left his parents and went it alone.
At that time, almost every village had a canteen, but the operating costs of retail investors were high and the profits were getting worse every day. At this time, someone started a retailer business, and the wholesale department came into being. Yue Lihua quickly felt this development opportunity and opened a wholesale department. He is one step ahead of his local peers, but this step is of great significance. After that, the road to development was much smoother, and the scale of the wholesale department became larger and larger.
Just as Yue Lihua's wholesale department was booming, supermarkets began to appear in China. Yue Lihua, who once again smelled the news of transformation, decisively closed the wholesale department and started to operate the supermarket from 200 1. Due to the lack of experience in supermarket management, he only managed cautiously in a small scope. A few years later, with some experience, he boldly expanded and soon owned several large and small supermarkets in the local area. But at this time, Yue Lihua did a very puzzling thing, closing all the big supermarkets and only operating small supermarkets.
"At that time, the smallest area of our store was 100 square meters, and the largest was more than 800 square meters. But in the process of operation, I feel that my energy is insufficient, and it is difficult for management to keep up. A series of problems followed, and it is difficult to control it if it continues to develop. " Yue Lihua made no secret of this.
"I began to reflect that we are not as good as Wal-Mart, Xinyijia and other large supermarkets in terms of capital, strength, management personnel and experience. However, I found that although large supermarkets have complete goods, it is very inconvenient to go, and the convenience supermarket located in the community has become the first choice of the citizens. Small-scale operation, good control and good management, I predict that the future will be a two-level differentiated market, big or small. In this case, I might as well be young. "
After careful consideration, Yue Lihua first closed the 800-square-meter supermarket, and the investment scale was reduced from several million to more than 200,000. Later, all stores were positioned as community supermarkets, and since then, they have concentrated on operating small supermarkets.
In this regard, he made a vivid metaphor: "Like this glass in my hand, it has many models. Today, I just figured out the method of this glass specification, and immediately I will explore another one, which will consume a lot of energy, and people's energy and time are limited. Therefore, what I want to do well is actually to simply copy and make the same type of glass. "
It is Yue Lihua who sized up the situation again and again, accurately grasped the opportunity of each transformation, and accurately positioned again and again, so that Sheng Xing supermarkets can keep healthy development and grow bigger and bigger in the fierce market competition.
[Development Strategy] Rural-Urban-Rural
"Doing business, like fighting, requires flexibility. My development strategy was learned from Chairman Mao. "
Since 2007, Sheng Xing Supermarket started in Nan County, Yiyang, Yue Lihua's hometown, and was clearly positioned as a community supermarket. In just a few years, it has developed to 400 stores through direct sales and joining two-wheel drive, and initially built a huge network all over Yiyang, Yueyang and other provinces and cities. In Changsha, there are also Xuanwan Town Store, Longbai Store and Xichang Street Store. Sheng Xing supermarkets embarked on a rapid development road with low input, high output, replicability and recyclability, and later extended to Guangzhou, Wuhan and other cities.
"It is necessary to face the whole country, take the city as the point, drive the development direction of the rural market, and turn Sheng Xing supermarket into a national chain supermarket."
Yue Lihua's business philosophy benefits from his love of reading Mao Zedong's books. "Doing business, like fighting, requires flexibility. In Hunan, I started from a small town and became bigger and stronger. Outside the province, we must first choose the provincial capital cities, stabilize the central market, and then develop into prefecture-level cities through the radiation of provincial capital cities. It is relatively easy to gain a foothold and influence in the provincial capital cities and develop further. This set of development ideas of' rural-urban-rural' is actually learned from Chairman Mao. "
[Secret of Success] Every detail determines success or failure.
"A store that closes at 2: 30 in the morning is definitely better than one that closes at 2: 00."
It's easier to fight a mountain than to defend one. When an enterprise grows bigger, it is treading on thin ice, and every detail determines success or failure.
Chain stores have a wide range of management and are difficult to supervise. In order to ensure the safety of products, Yue Lihua thought of many countermeasures.
"For products with large circulation and many fakes, the company will distribute goods in a unified way, which can effectively prevent the breeding of fakes and help businesses reduce the purchase cost. Our store doesn't sell second-and third-line brands, only well-known first-line brands. In this way, the possibility of entering counterfeit goods is greatly reduced. In addition, we also have a strict supervision mechanism. Once the franchisee violates the rules, the company will immediately ban its distribution rights and impose a fine. "
Yue Lihua also emphasized the human factor. "In this line, successful people are often those from rural areas and poor families because they suffer. For example, after a customer buys a box of beer, the store that can be delivered to the sixth and seventh floors will definitely win the hearts of customers. "
"For another example, the neighboring store closes at 2 am, and I can insist on closing at 2: 30. A shop that opens at 2: 30 is definitely better than closing early. "
Yue Lihua's management skills
About site selection
1. Take the community as the breakthrough point, and from the customer's point of view, choose the position that can attract the customer's attention emotionally.
2. Test the flow of people by time, which can be measured by several people or cars. Where the traffic is too low or the occupancy rate is low, you can't wait.
3. The location needs to match the rent and business area. Generally, it is mainly a small storefront of 50 square meters, and the rent is 2000-3000 yuan/month.
Target consumer group positioning
Community residents over 35 years old. Because they are more practical than young consumers.
Product positioning
Choose products that are commonly used by residents, practical and first-line brands, and don't operate brand-name products.
Yue Lihua's entrepreneurial quotations
During the conversation, Yue Lihua repeatedly stressed that businessmen must have a mind to make money for everyone, not to eat alone or monopolize the market.
In the TV series "Qiao Family Courtyard", Qiao Guangzhi violated his ancestral training and competed with his competitors for sorghum business, and finally his business was a fiasco.
Yue Lihua believes that doing business must have a sense of holding a group, and the cakes in the market can be made together, and everyone can make money together. Yue Lihua has always maintained a healthy competitive relationship with her peers. He often gets together with his peers to discuss how to develop and exchange experiences. Sometimes, when someone encounters some problems and everyone's thoughts collide, they come up with good countermeasures.
At that time, Qiao Zhiyong kept its promise not to dominate the market, leaving room for its competitors everywhere, and only then did it realize its dream of meeting the world. At present, the practice of not dominating the market and monopolizing food by one company is also conducive to equal competition, mutual cooperation, sharing resources and safeguarding the common interests of all businesses in the same industry.